WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/614 
27 November 2009 
 
 (09-5989) 
  
  
 
SEVENTH DEDICATED DISCUSSION ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL ON 
8, 13, 22 AND 27 OCTOBER AND 2, 4 AND 6 NOVEMBER 2009 
 
Summary by the Secretariat of the Issues Raised
1 
 
  At the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China, Ministers agreed to reinvigorate work on issues under the Work Progr amme, to maintain the current institutional 
arrangements for the Work Programme, and to ma intain their current practice of not imposing 
customs duties on electronic transmissions until their next Session, 
  The seventh dedicated discussion on e-commer ce took place on 8, 13, 22 and 27 October and 
2, 4 and 6 November 2009 under the auspices of the General Council and was chaired by Deputy 
Director-General Mr. Harsha V. Singh, on the requ est and behalf of the General Council Chair.  
Members considered the question of the current situation of the Work Programme on Electronic 
Commerce in the context of preparations for the next  Ministerial Conference.  They also considered 
and approved the report of the Dedicated Di scussion to the General Council in document 
WT/GC/W/613, which included in paragraph 9 a text to be forwarded to the General Council Chair as 
the input on e-commerce to the upcoming Ministerial Conference in Geneva. 
 It was agreed that the Secretariat would continue its practice of preparing a factual report on 
the discussion under its own responsibility, and that  Deputy Director-General Mr. Singh would make 
an oral report on the discussion to the General Council at its meeting in November 2009.  The main views expressed by delegations in the c ourse of the discussion are summarized below. 
Background 
• The Chairman provided a brief summary of the background to the consideration of e-
commerce in the WTO.  He recalled that with regard to the conduct of the E-Commerce Work 
Programme as a whole, in December 2005 Ministers in Hong Kong, China had agreed to 
continue with the institutional arrangements th en in place for this work, namely that the 
Councils for Trade in Services, Trade in G oods and TRIPS, and the Committee on Trade and 
Development would examine and report on aspects of electronic commerce relevant to their respective areas of competence, and that the Ge neral Council would play a central role in the 
entire process, would keep the Work Programme  under review and would consider any trade-
related issue of a cross-cutting nature. 
 
• Since May 2001, the General Council's examina tion of cross-cutting issues under the Work 
Programme had been carried out in dedicated discu ssions held for this purpose.  To date, six 
such dedicated discussions under the auspices of the General Council had been held.  As with 
the previous such discussions, the present mee ting was being held under the auspices of the 
                                                     
 
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. WT/GC/W/614 
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  General Council, but was not a meeting of th e Council.  The records of the dedicated 
discussions held to date had been produced in the form of a factual summary of the meeting 
drawn up by the Secretariat on its own responsibilit y.  The note on the most recent dedicated 
discussion in November 2005 was contained in document WT/GC/W/556.  These factual summaries had then been forwarded to the General Council with a brief oral report at the 
Council meeting by the Chairman of the dedicated discussion.   
 
• He recalled that Paragraph 46 of the Hong K ong Ministerial Declaration read as follows:  
"We take note of the reports from the Genera l Council and subsidiary bodies on the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce, and that the examination of issues under the Work Programme is not yet complete.  We agree to reinvigorate that work, including the 
development-related issues under the Work  Programme and discussions on the trade 
treatment, inter alia, of electronically delivered software.  We agree to maintain the current 
institutional arrangements for the Work Programme .  We declare that Members will maintain 
their current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until our next Session."  As indicated in the fax convening the meeting, there had been no activity 
under the Work Programme since November 2005,  and the purpose of  the present meeting 
was to consider the current situ ation in the context of preparat ions for the next Ministerial 
Conference.  Members would also have to s ubmit a report on their dedicated discussions to 
the General Council prior to the upcoming Ministerial Conference. 
 
• One delegation expressed concern over the short time available until the Ministerial 
Conference, should any delegation have an issue it wished to address under the Work 
Programme prior to that meeting.  The Chair responded that since November 2005, the issue 
of e-commerce had not been raised by any delegation in any of the bodies charged with examining issues under the Work Programme.  Th e system provided for the examination of 
any issue in e-commerce according to the time-frame the Members themselves decided.  
 
E-Commerce in the context of the upcoming Ministerial Conference 
 
• The Chair recalled that as provided in the Hong Kong Declaration, the moratorium on the 
imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions would be maintained until the next Ministerial Conference   From recent informal contacts with interested delegations, it appeared that most felt the moratorium should be  maintained until the following Ministerial – 
i.e. the one following the Geneva Ministerial – similar to the decision in Hong Kong   
However, some needed to consider the issue furt her.  For Ministers to consider extension of 
the moratorium, this matter would have to be included in the Provisional Agenda for the 
Conference, which would be circulated roughly si x weeks prior to the opening of the Session, 
i.e. by about mid-October, and he wished to hear delegations' views on this matter. 
 
• All but two delegations who spoke supported bot h the inclusion of e-commerce on the agenda 
of the Geneva Ministerial and the continua tion of the moratorium on the imposition of 
customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next (Eighth) Session.  Some said that e-commerce was of particular impor tance, and had been of great benefit, to their economies.  
Two delegations drew a link w ith extension of the moratorium on TRIPS non-violation cases.  
One indicated that, regarding an eventual text to  be sent to Ministers, any substantive changes 
to the Hong Kong text would require consider able time for internal approval by his 
delegation. 
 
• The Chair suggested that in view of the statemen ts made so far, one option might be to decide 
to include this item on the agenda of the fort hcoming Ministerial, and use the time between 
the present and that meeting to work on the te xt that would be submitted to the General  WT/GC/W/614 
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  Council for forwarding to Ministers.  Given that the concerns expressed at the present 
meeting were similar to those expressed in th e run-up to the Hong K ong Ministerial, one 
could take the Hong Kong text as the basis fo r discussion.  One delegation said it understood 
there had to be prior consensus on any item to be included on the agenda for Ministers, and 
would thus work in the coming days to find a solu tion.  Another agreed that in the absence of 
consensus the item could not be included on th e agenda, and asked to be included in any 
consultations on this matter.  One delegation, supported by others, suggested the item could 
be included in a draft Provisional ag enda for subsequent approval.   
 
• The Chair said this had been a useful sharing of views on this topic.  It seemed clear that 
substantive work in this area needed to be em barked upon, and he intended to convene further 
meetings of the Dedicated Discussion in th e very near future for this purpose. 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 13 October , delegations continued to di scuss this matter, with one, 
supported by another, recalling that Members had recently agreed to put forward to Ministers only matters on which there was already consensus.   It was prepared to discuss and seek that 
consensus, but this would require an effort from all.  Others were of the view that e-
commerce was not a new issue and had to be on  the agenda for the Seventh Session because 
Ministers had taken a decision on it in 1998.  It was suggested by one  delegation, supported 
by several others, that participants focus on laying the groundwork to address the concerns 
expressed over the fact that no work had b een done under the Work Programme for four 
years.  The delegation who had initially objected  to including the item on the agenda said this 
could be a way forward, but stressed that it c ould not sign off on the moratorium with a blank 
check – there would have to be substantive work and a report to the General Council which 
would be the basis for any rollover of the moratorium.  Another delegation stressed the 
benefits for developing countries from the mora torium and suggested that Members start 
working seriously on the Work Programme, incl ude the item on the agenda for Ministers, and 
address the concerns raised on a priority basis.   The delegation who had initially objected to 
including the item on the agenda said it could accep t this on the understanding that the text to 
be put forward to Ministers would provide for clear and specific work and specific deadlines, 
with decisions taken in the short and medium term. 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 22 October
, delegations continued to discuss this matter, 
focussing on a proposal received from one delega tion that was modelled on paragraph 46 of 
the Hong Kong Declaration but with four areas of difference:  (i) take note with concern of 
the reports from the bodies carrying out the Work Programme and that the examination is not 
yet complete;  (ii) agree to intensively rei nvigorate that work after the Seventh Session and 
complete the Work Programme by July 2010, with a written report by the General Council 
Chair, including recommendations;  (iii) the Work Programme shall also include "the implementation of basic principles of non- discrimination and predictability";  and 
(iv) maintain the moratorium until the July 201 0 General Council.  This delegation stressed 
that it wanted a clear program of work with cl ear and short deadlines, and that the moratorium 
was not, and was not intended to be, separate  from the Work Programme – the two were 
linked.  It was looking for the implemen tation of legally-binding WTO commitments.  
Several delegations supported th is proposal, with one saying there should be no extension of 
the moratorium.  However, a number of other delegations disagreed strongly that the 
moratorium and the Work Programme were linked. 
 
• Another delegation presented its own proposal, wh ich provided for reinvigorating work after 
the Seventh Session, a report by the GC Chair including recommendations that responded to the issues raised by Members, instructed the GC to report  on further progress to Eighth 
Ministerial Session, and maintained the moratorium until the Eighth Session.  Other Members  WT/GC/W/614 
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  indicated serious problems with the approach in the first proposal, with one saying that the 
outcome and legal effect of the Work Programme and the moratorium were entirely separate and that there were no such linkages in any previous Ministerial Declarations.  Many 
sympathised with the concerns of the dele gation suggesting the first proposal and were 
willing to develop and intensify the Work Pr ogramme, with some even saying they were 
willing to have an interim review at the mid-point, i.e. in November or December 2010.  
Some expressed concerns about any re port to the General Council containing 
recommendations. 
 
• A number of delegations reiterated their wish to maintain the moratorium until the Eighth 
Session and expressed concern about efforts to make the moratorium conditional on results 
from the Work Programme.  One recalled that  its goal in 2005 had been to make the 
moratorium permanent and binding, and said it remained open to ideas to reinvigorate the Work Programme.  Many cautioned against a too-short deadline for completion of the Work Programme.  One delegation stressed the need to lay the groundwork to enable the Work 
Programme to address the concerns raised and to  complete its work, but that the moratorium 
should be maintained in the meantime.  Another explicitly linked the E-Commerce 
moratorium to the moratorium on TRIPS non-violation cases. 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 27 October
, one delegation presented a proposal which it said 
tried to take account of all the views and con cerns expressed.  Another presented a revision of 
its earlier proposal.  One delegation again said it  could not accept any proposal that linked the 
moratorium to the Work Programme, as e-co mmerce was a vital strategic issue for his 
country's development, but it supported strengthening the Work  Programme.  One delegation 
pointed out that no Member had expressed any problem with having a strong, credible Work 
Programme so as to avoid a repeat of the p ast, and all indicated their willingness to find 
common ground that was acceptable to all. 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 2 November , delegations continued to discuss this matter, on the 
basis of three revised proposals.  Points of convergence were, inter alia , the need to 
reinvigorate work under the Work Programme, pe riodic reviews, clarity on the deadlines and 
the periodicity of the reports to be made.  There was some discussion of whether any report 
should contain recommendations, and it was pointed out that, in any event, the content of any 
report would be the product of consensus.  It wa s agreed that the four delegations responsible 
for the various proposals would work on producing one common proposal for consideration in the Dedicated Discussion.  On a separate but rela ted matter, the Chairman had circulated the 
previous day a draft text of the Dedicated Discussion's report to the November General 
Council for consideration by delegations.
 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 4 November , delegations continued to discuss this matter, on the 
basis of a single proposal that attempted to consolidate all the concerns expressed.  A number of focused points started to emerge which ma de it possible to clear some of the undecided 
issues.  However, one delegation said it would ha ve to consider whether it could agree to 
specific mention of the three principles of non-di scrimination, predictability and transparency.  
Another said that having made a reference to  the 1998 Work Programme in the text, one 
should be careful not to re-write it.  In addition,  some delegations said they needed more time 
to consider the proposal. 
 
• At the resumed meeting on 6 November
, delegations reached a consensus on the text to be 
included in the Dedicated Discussion's report to the General Council for forwarding to Ministers (see para. 9 of WT/GC/W/613), wh ich included an explicit reference to the 
principles of non-discrimination, predictability  and transparency, and provided that the  WT/GC/W/614 
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  moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions would be 
maintained "until our next Session, which we  have decided to hold in 2011."  Several 
delegations said that final agreement was de pendent on the TRIPS Council's deciding on the 
same extension of the moratorium on non-viol ation and situation complaints, which it did 
later that day.  Differing views were expressed on the attaching of conditionalities to the text 
on e-commerce. 
 
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